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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Overbrook High School (New Jersey)
Overbrook High School is a comprehensive community four-year public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Pine Hill, in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, operating as the lone secondary school of the Pine Hill Schools. The high school also serves the communities of Berlin Township and Clementon through sending/receiving relationships with their respective school districts. School colors are orange and blue.

As of the 2023–24 school year, the school had an enrollment of 846 students and 59.3 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 14.3:1. There were 411 students (48.6% of enrollment) eligible for free lunch and 89 (10.5% of students) eligible for reduced-cost lunch.

History

The school opened as Lower Camden County Regional High School in October 1939 in Lindenwold with an enrollment of 700 students, having been constructed at a cost of $575,000 (equivalent to $12.6 million in 2023). It served students from up to ten municipalities at one point. The population soon began to grow, however, and Edgewood Regional High School (now Winslow Township High School) was founded in Winslow Township. The school took the name Overbrook Regional Senior High School in the 1950s, and joined its sister school Edgewood as part of the Lower Camden County Regional School District.

Soon, the student population became too large for the now 60+ year old building to handle, and the current building was erected in 1969 in Pine Hill. The former building became known as Overbrook Regional Junior High School.

Overcrowding again became an issue in the late 90s, as Overbrook Junior High School was serving Berlin Township, Clementon, Lindenwold, Pine Hill, and portions of Winslow Township.

In 1999, each of the individual school boards voted to dissolve LCCRHSD. Lindenwold would build its own high school and take over the old junior high building to make it the district's middle school. Edgewood Regional Junior High became Winslow Township Middle School, and Edgewood Senior High became Winslow Township High School. Pine Hill would build Pine Hill Middle School in the forested area next to the school.

Over the next decade, the population at Overbrook slowly faded from a high of over 1700 students to a new low of just under 800 students.

After 28 years at Overbrook, Paul J. Harmelin retired as principal following the 2012–13 school year. His replacement starting in the 2013–14 school year was Don Borden. Adam Lee was hired as the Principal in July 2015. Lee was a social studies teacher and then an Assistant Principal before being named the Principal.

Awards, recognition and rankings

The school was the 282nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 339 schools statewide in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2014 cover story on the state's "Top Public High Schools", using a new ranking methodology. The school had been ranked 253rd in the state of 328 schools in 2012, after being ranked 300th in 2010 out of 322 schools listed. The magazine ranked the school 276th in 2008 out of 316 schools. The school was ranked 278th in the magazine's September 2006 issue, which surveyed 316 schools across the state. The school was later ranked 237th in the magazine's 2016 issue out of 337.

Athletics

The Overbrook High School Rams compete as one of the member schools in the Tri-County Conference, which is comprised of public and private high schools located in Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. The conference is overseen by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA). From 2008 to 2020, the school had been a member of the Colonial Conference. With 471 students in grades 10–12, the school was classified by the NJSIAA for the 2019–20 school year as Group I for most athletic competition purposes, which included schools with an enrollment of 75 to 476 students in that grade range. The football team competes in the Colonial Division of the 94-team West Jersey Football League superconference and was classified by the NJSIAA as Group II South for football for 2024–2026, which included schools with 514 to 685 students.

The school offers fall, winter, and spring season sports. For fall, the school offers boys'/girls' cross country, girls' tennis, boys'/girls' soccer, girls' cheerleading, girls' field hockey and boys' football. Winter sports are boys'/girls' basketball, boys'/girls' bowling, girls' dance, boys'/girls' indoor track, and boys' wrestling. For spring, there are boys'/girls' track, girls' softball, boys'/girls' golf, boys' tennis and boys' baseball. In the 2017–2018 school year, Overbrook High School introduced a program called Unified Sports which is offered in all three seasons.

The boys cross country running team won the Group II state championship in 1966-1968 and the Group III title in 1972.

The boys' soccer team won the Group III state title in 1977 as co-champion with Summit High School.

The wrestling team won the South Jersey Group III sectional championship in 1980 and 1981 Overbrook has had four state wrestling champions in the school's history: Erik Saunders (who won in 1989 in the 135 lb. weight class), Damien Covington (1991 at 189 lb.), Kip Covington (1992 at 145 lb.) and Mark Peiffer (2005 at 171 lb.). In 2020, Alexis Rosano (143 lb.) became Overbrook's first ever female wrestling state champion.

The football team won the South Jersey Group III title in 1990 and the South Jersey Group IV title in 1998. The 1990 team won the South Jersey Group III state sectional title with a 22–19 win against Brick Memorial High School in the championship game. The Rams were undefeated 1998, winning the NJSIAA South Jersey Group IV title, defeating Shawnee High School by a score of 21–14 in a game played at Rutgers Stadium and ending the season with a perfect 12–0 record. The win marked the program's first state sectional title since they won in Group III in 1990.

As of September 9, 2006, Overbrook High School's varsity football field was renamed as the Larry Mauriello Varsity Football Complex.

Overbrook and crosstown rival Lindenwold High School play a traditional Thanksgiving Day football game each year.

On December 27, 2016, before the finals of the Overbrook Wrestling Holiday Christmas Tournament, the Overbrook High School Athletics Department dedicated to name their first ever wrestling room after respected and former wrestling coach Paul Mauriello, in his honor, naming it the "Coach Paul E. Mauriello Wrestling Room".

Extracurricular activities

The clubs offered at Overbrook are African American Culture Club, Multicultural Club, Book Club, Band (including Concert Band, Lab Jazz Band, Jazz Band, and Marching Band) Choir (including Coding Club, Concert Choir, Chambers Singers, Overtones Honors Choir and After-School Choir), Stage Crew, Sports (see above), Academic Challenge, Interact Club, Leo Club, National Honor Society, Science League, Student Government, Yearbook Committee, and Model United Nations (MUN).

Performing arts

The Performing Arts at Overbrook High School is a well established program consisting of band, choir and theatre. All 3 programs combined make up about 1/3 of the entire school's population. These programs are some of the most well recognized in the state. Some recent achievements include...

  • The Overbrook Jazz Band has won the NJIAJE state championship in 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2004.
  • The Overbrook Jazz Band has been accepted into the NJIAJE State Finals for nearly all of the past 24 years.
  • The Overbrook Jazz Band won their division in the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in 1996, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2008 and was one of the top high school jazz bands nationally in 1996.
  • The Overbrook Marching Band Percussion Group Won the Tri-State Title of Best Percussion in the season 2004–05 with a score of 19.4/20.0, and won the State Best Percussion Title October 28, 2006 with a score of 19.4/20.0
  • The Overbrook Marching Band Percussion Group and Color Guard won the Tri-State title of Best Percussion and Best Color Guard in the season of 2013–2014.
  • The Overbrook Marching Band Percussion Group also achieved an undefeated season for the season of 2013–2014.
  • The Overbrook Overtones Honors Choir performed the National Anthem at a Philadelphia Phillies game in June 2011, 2013, and 2019.
  • The Overbrook Overtones Honors Choir placed third in the B101 Christmas Choir Contest in December 2011.
  • The Overbrook Overtones Honors Choir was invited to and performed at the Kimmel Center with Christopher B. Thomas and Rowan University's Concert Choir in 2012.
  • For the years 2010–2019, the Overbrook Choir has had at least 15 students audition and several participate in the NJ All-State Choir.

Recent Fall plays include You Can't Take It with You (2009), Murder's in the Heir (2010), Noises Off! (2011), Romeo and Juliet (2012), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2013), 12 Angry Jurors (2014), It's a Wonderful Life (2015), A Christmas Carol (2016), Getting Sara Married (2017), The Crucible (2018), Almost, Maine (2019), Play On (2021), and Elephant's Graveyard (2022).

Recent Spring musicals include Little Shop of Horrors (2007), Guys and Dolls (2008), The Pirates of Penzance (2009), Once on This Island (2010), Les Misérables (2011), Pippin (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2013), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (2014), The Addams Family (2015), Into the Woods (2016), Seussical (2017), Once Upon a Mattress (2018), The Wedding Singer (2019), Sister Act (2020 - canceled for COVID shutdown), Working (2021), Footloose (2022), and Annie (2023).

The Performing Arts Program has helped Overbrook to become a "Choice School" for the Performing Arts for the 2013–14 school year.

Administration

The school's principal is John Carullo. His administration team includes two assistant principals, head of guidance, and athletic director.

Notable alumni

See also: Category:Overbrook High School (New Jersey) alumni

References

  1. ^ School data for Overbrook Senior High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed December 15, 2024.
  2. ^ Overbrook High School, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  3. ^ Member Schools, Tri-County Conference. Accessed November 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Superintendent's Message, Pine Hill Schools, backed up by the Internet Archive as of March 3, 2009. Accessed March 3, 2011. "Our facilities consist of the Overbrook High School (with the attendance area encompassing the communities of Pine Hill, Clementon, and Berlin Township), Pine Hill Middle School, Dr. Albert Bean Elementary School, and John Glenn Elementary School."
  5. ^ "Regional School Begins Term Today Ahead of Schedule; 713 Pupils Register in New Lower Camden County High at Lindenwold", Courier-Post, October 9, 1939. Accessed May 30, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "With a registration of 713, the new $575,000 Lower Camden County Regional High School opened this morning, four months ahead of schedule."
  6. ^ Staff. "Top Schools Alphabetical List 2014", New Jersey Monthly, September 2, 2014. Accessed September 5, 2014.
  7. ^ Staff. "The Top New Jersey High Schools: Alphabetical", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2012. Accessed September 11, 2012.
  8. ^ Staff. "2010 Top High Schools", New Jersey Monthly, August 16, 2010. Accessed March 3, 2011.
  9. ^ "Top New Jersey High Schools 2008: By Rank", New Jersey Monthly, September 2008, posted August 7, 2008. Accessed August 19, 2008.
  10. ^ League & Conference Officers/Affiliated Schools 2020-2021, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed October 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Friedman, Josh. "Gloucester, a founding member of the Tri-County Conference, joins the Colonial Conference", Courier-Post, June 19, 2020. Accessed November 18, 2020. "Gloucester High School is leaving the Tri-County Conference after nearly a century in the organization. Gloucester, a founding member of the TCC in 1928, has been accepted into the Colonial Conference, taking the place of Overbrook, which is moving back to the TCC after leaving in 2008.... The move wasn’t supposed to occur until 2021, but because Overbrook and Gloucester are essentially switching places, both conferences agreed it made more sense to expedite the process."
  12. ^ NJSIAA General Public School Classifications 2019–2020, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 20, 2020.
  13. ^ Overbrook Rams, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  14. ^ Home Page, West Jersey Football League. Accessed May 1, 2023. "The WJFL is a 94-school super conference that stretches from Princeton to Wildwood encompassing schools from the Colonial Valley Conference, the Burlington County Scholastic League, the Olympic Conference, the Tri-County Conference, the Colonial Conference, and the Cape Atlantic League. The WJFL is made up of sixteen divisions with divisional alignments based on school size, geography and a strength-of-program component."
  15. ^ NJSIAA Football Public School Classifications 2024–2026, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, updated September 2024. Accessed September 1, 2024.
  16. ^ NJSIAA Boys Cross Country State Group Champions, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  17. ^ NJSIAA History of Boys Soccer, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  18. ^ NJSIAA Wrestling Team Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2021.
  19. ^ NJSIAA State Champions, New Jersey Wrestling. Accessed January 2, 2018.
  20. ^ NJSIAA Girls Wrestling State Tournament Championship History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed November 1, 2020.
  21. ^ NJSIAA Football History, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Accessed May 1, 2023.
  22. ^ Deckelnick, Gary. "Overbrook halts Brick Memorial", Asbury Park Press, December 2, 1990. Accessed January 30, 2021, via Newspapers.com. "Brick Memorial High School, playing in its first sectional championship final game, scored three second-half touchdowns yesterday against one of the best defensive teams in South Jersey Overbrook but lost, 22-19. The win was the first championship for Overbrook, which lost in its two previous appearances in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association South Jersey Group III championship game."
  23. ^ Brown, Scott. "Brown Directs Overbrook To Title Td Pass Lifts Rams In Group 4", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 7, 1998. Accessed July 15, 2011. "The play that netted a Group 4 South Jersey football title for Overbrook and capped the school's first perfect season since 1966 was all improvisation. In other words, it was vintage Byron Brown. Brown threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jon Scialabba with 27 seconds remaining yesterday as Overbrook beat resilient Shawnee, 21–14, in a spine-tingling game at Rutgers Stadium. The Rams' sectional title was the first by a Camden County school since Overbrook won a Group 4 title in 1990."
  24. ^ Narducci, Marc. "Overbrook's Group 4 Title A Boost For Camden County The Rams Own The County's Only Two Crowns This Decade. Gloucester County Has Won 12 In That Time.", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 8, 1998. Accessed July 15, 2011. "Overbrook's thrilling 21–14 victory over Shawnee in the South Jersey Group 4 final not only clinched The Inquirer's No. 1 ranking for the Rams, but it also brought some long-due redemption for Camden County football. Overbrook is the only Camden County public school to win a sectional title this decade. In addition to winning this year's Group 4 crown, the Rams won the 1990 Group 3 title."
  25. ^ Davis, G. "Pine Hill Schools District Dedicates the Overbrook High School Football Field to the Larry Mauriello Varsity Football Complex", SouthJerseySports.com, September 9, 2006. Accessed July 15, 2011. "On Friday and Saturday, September 8 and 9, the Pine Hill Board of Education and Overbrook Varsity Club held a Dinner and Dedication Ceremony in honor of Coach Larry Mauriello. As of September 9th, the Overbrook High School Varsity Football Field will become the Larry Mauriello Varsity Football Complex."
  26. ^ Anastasia, Phil. "West Jersey Football League realigned South Jersey teams", The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 31, 2016. Accessed September 21, 2016. "'I remember when we [Overbrook] were in the Olympic Conference, then we were in the Tri-County Conference, then the Colonial," said Wilczynski, whose team will see nontraditional foes such as Woodstown, Oakcrest, and Holy Cross in crossover games while maintaining its Thanksgiving rivalry with Lindenwold."
  27. ^ Administration, Overbrook High School. Accessed March 5, 2024.
  28. ^ Damien Covington Archived February 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Database Football. Accessed February 9, 2009.
  29. ^ Rose Bowl Legends: Ron Dayne Archived March 20, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Accessed December 25, 2006.
  30. ^ "Catching up with All-USA Class of 1995", USA Today. Accessed July 25, 2007.
  31. ^ All-Time players listing at NFL.com
  32. ^ McGarry, Michael. "LaMarr Greer back coaching at home after spending years abroad playing pro basketball", The Press of Atlantic City, February 8, 2014. Accessed April 27, 2020. "Greer spent his first two years of high school at Overbrook in Camden County. He transferred to Middle Township for his junior season."
  33. ^ Kuperinsky, Amy. "Jermaine Jones, South Jersey's 'Gentle Giant,' perseveres on American Idol", NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, March 6, 2012. Accessed September 21, 2019. "And at Jones’ alma mater, Overbrook High School in Pine Hill, his name is on the school’s outdoor bulletin board."
  34. ^ Staff. "Lenahan Ready For New Challenge At Northwestern", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 18, 2001. Accessed March 3, 2011. "As far as builders go, Tim Lenahan has earned the reputation as the Bob Vila of men's college soccer. A 1977 graduate of Overbrook High School, Lenahan has turned struggling programs at Richard Stockton and Lafayette into big winners. He's now about to take on his biggest challenge."
  35. ^ "Start Here, Go Far – Camden County College Graduate Spotlight on Tim Lenahan", Camden County, New Jersey, July 5, 2016. Accessed March 5, 2024. "Tim Lenahan grew up in Pine Hill, NJ and attended Overbook High School."
  36. ^ Staff. "Two Native-Son Jazzmen Set For Return Engagements \ Pianist Eric Lewis Is A Young Lion On Rise", The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 24, 1997. Accessed March 3, 2011. "Lewis grew up a loner. Slightly overweight and with few close friends he was often the last to be picked in sports. From seventh grade on he traveled almost 35 miles a day to attend Overbrook Senior High School in Pine Hill where the music instruction was better."
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